The alliterated L in the first two lines gives a flowing, open sound to the opening of the poem which works with the simplistic rhythm to suggest an easy optimism. This pulls against the meaning of the words which the alliteration highlights – ‘little', ‘lost', ‘lonely'.
God appears ‘like his father in white', suggesting something bright and pure, even angelic. The child's mother, by contrast is ‘pale'. She, too, is lacking in colour and is white. This term, however, evokes exhaustion, being drained of life and colour. Although this is appropriate to a mother of a lost child, it is also a disturbing idea. It is as though the child is handed over from a bright, life-filled power to one which is drained of life.